Day 13

which negated our plans to bike around downtown Burlington, which is a shame.  I looked so forward to biking on the trail I found last night.  Instead, we waited around until coffee and breakfast was available and bought an umbrella at a drug store which was on the way to downtown.  Of course once we got to downtown, it stopped raining, but we were able to get in a good walk around the water and around downtown.  We both loved Burlington!  If we ever disappear for a while, you might want to look for us in Burlington, Vermont.  The city was amazing and the people are so friendly!

Magic Hat was our first real destination for the day. 

I hate the #9 brew which is their most popular and wasn’t really looking too forward to what else they would have, but was pleasantly surprised by the people and their Imperial Pilsner.  I do not normally like a Pilsner, but this was the best one I’ve ever had.  It actually had flavor.  They allow you to have 4 tasters for free, but we lucked out and got 5.  Then, we went on a self-guided tour since the guided tour didn’t start until 2.  It was pretty cool and the technology made it interactive.  


One of the workers made a point to tell us that we had to go to the Alchemist because they had the #1 beer in the country right now.  We did not have that brewery on our itinerary, but I was willing to make an exception if it was that good.  We decided to head to the Alchemist, but unfortunately, they were not open on Sunday, even though our informational map said they were open 7 days a week.  We did not let that get us down.  We stopped for gas and lunch consisting of leftovers from the night before and powered on to Long Trail. 

We found out why they have the name Long Trail.  Some of the roads we had to take to get to Long Trail were quite harsh, but it was worth the trek.  

The scenery was beautiful, but it was quite a long trip to Long Trail. There were many nice mountains along the way that helped make the trip not seem so long but...

 Ty still got a little bored as he took pictures of the scenery.

 We finally made it to Long Trail.

Had we not had the leftovers, I am sure we would have had lunch at Long Trail because their menu looked great and the place smelled wonderful.  Their beers were impressive, and we shared a sampler.  We also got a few extra samples for free and we tipped the bartender extra for the bonus samples. 

I love the Harpoon IPA, but I wasn’t really expecting much more from the brewery than what I am accustomed to.  Boy, was I wrong. 

It took a while to get service, but it was worth the wait.  Our bartender, Josh, was a hoot.  He got us more tasters than we really wanted, and also poured us a mixture of their Rye IPA along with their Imperial IPA which was delicious.  He asked us ahead of time, once he got to know our tastes, if we trusted him to just pour a full pint and we agreed.  I am so glad we did!  They used to brew an Imperial Rye, but they discontinued it for some reason.  This mixture was his way of recreating that beer.  While the side of sauerkraut I ordered never came through because the kitchen was closing, we had a really good time and Ty’s side order of fries was enough to tide us over.

From there, we headed to Manchester.  We ran into quite a bit of rain and several police officers pulling over people for speeding.  I was careful not to speed (too much), so we were all set.  There was no brewery in the area, but it seemed like a good place to stay.  We wanted to have dinner at Milly’s Pub, but we did not get there until after 7:30, and they closed at 7.  Instead, we thought we should probably find a place to stay, so we booked a room at the Econo-Lodge and settled in.  We found a place called the Strange Brew for dinner and had a great late meal.  We didn’t end up getting there until 8:30.  I hate eating that late, but it was really good and the bartender was entertaining.  After dinner, we headed to The Farm for a mixed drink which was nice because we got a good walk in between.  We both ordered delicious drinks, so it all worked out. 

We got back to the Econo-Lodge and decided where were going to stay for tomorrow after quite a bit of research of different reviews.  I hope that tomorrow we will spend less time in the car and more time walking and biking around.  We shall see.